Dead Space

"Phenomenal Survival Horror Game"

Introduction
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I saw numerous glowing reviews of this game, so I finally borrowed it from a friend. I was a bit skeptical because lately, EA has turned into the Jerry Bruckheimer of Video Games, shiny but souless. Well, EA has definitely won me back with this game. I would strongly recommend this game to anyone who likes true survival horror games.




Story (9/10)
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Don't worry, I wont give away any spoilers! The basic story is that you play Isaac Clarke, an engineer and computer specialist sent with a repair team to discover what is wrong the USG Ishimura, a planet-cracker (really big mining ship). You quickly discover that the ship has become overrun by some form of non-human life, and your job is to survive, discover what is causing all the problems, and hopefully get off this love boat from hell.

One of the coolest things is that the story is primarily told via video, audio, and text logs that you find (reminisicent of BioShock). In fact, through these logs, you get to follow in the footsteps of a few select survivors (who you generally grow to care about).

The story, in its component parts, draws from many movie and game sources (primarily Aliens, Event Horizon, Resident Evil, and System Shock 2). Some may be critical of this, assuming that EA has simply copied these sources. However, EA has done far more than mere copying; they have used good concepts to craft a unique and engrossing story. Probably the only key problems with the story are: 1) I wanted to know even more after the game was over (the free video comics on XBL helped a bit), 2) some of the fetch & fix missions can become repetitive (though they never feel out-of-place), and 3) one of the key "plot twists" was not surprising at all... which is amusing because Isaac seems so shocked by it.




Gameplay (9/10)
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This game was a blast to play, primarily because it was probably the most effective Survival Horror game ever. There are two critical components to a survival horror game, immersion (scares and puzzles) and action (killing the baddies).

Immersion:

The immersion factor was great. I was scared. Really scared. Even during the daytime. At night; terrified (at parts). This is the scariest game I've ever played, largely because it's not just popping-out scares (though the game has plenty of those), which stop being scary very quick. This game is freaky, and the biggest scare comes from walking down a poorly lit coridor, hearing the sound of a pipe being kicked in the distance, seeing mutilated corpses, creeping around the corner AND... nothing. It's all about a general feeling of dread! You'll be on the edge of your seat, so that when the pop-out scares come, you might just jump.

Importantly, the game never takes you out of the immersion. There is NO HUD DISPLAY. All the information you need is displayed on your suit, or your weapon. Your inventory is displayed as a hologram that appears in front of you. So are the messages from survivors (or discovered logs) Don't spend too long, because time does not stop while you look through your stuff (or buy things from the store or upgrade from a workshop). Yup, the only way to stop the action is to pause (but then you can't do anything). No place is safe. Keeps the scares going!

The puzzles generally feel organic, and not forced. Honestly, there aren't many puzzles, and you get through them really quickly, so there's not much to say about them. The "highlight" of the puzzles are when you use the environment to kill special enemies (you'll understand when it happens).

Action:

The action was a blast. It can get a little repetitive after a while, but the limb dismemberment feature keeps things pretty fresh. What is limb dismemberment you ask? Well, each body part of the baddies can be shot off. This does more damage to them and affects how they react, move, and attack. Shoot off a leg, and they crawl. Shoot off the arms, and no more attacking for Mr. Baddie. This saves ammo, and can lead to intense moments where you hurridly try to get a shot off before a claw rips into your body. Needless to say, you generally don't shoot for the body.

The enemies are fairly smart, and they will either charge you or regroup depending on the type of enemy. Sometimes, they even play possum. There are about a dozen monster types (which increase w/ improved versions later on). The boss fights are fun. In fact, the only problems with the boss fights are: 1) there aren't enough and 2) the final boss fight is not nearly as challenging as the rest of the game.

There are multiple weapon types. Interestingly, the first weapon (the Plasma Cutter, which is the only free one) is probably the best in the game (b/c of it's extreme versatility, it is the only weapon you could use at any point in the game). My other favorite was the force gun, which is essentially the shotgun of the game (it packs a big punch, and will even push enemies away, good to get a little breathing room, or to use the environment to your advantage). The other weapons are interesting, but are best used strategicaly in specific (appropriate) situations. The one weapon I would recommend avoiding is the flamethrower. It's fairly useless, because it takes far too long to kill a monster (and considering how fast they are, and how quick you can die, the flamethrower is almost always a severe liability).

There is a substantial and interesting upgrade system, where you add "power nodes" to a grid to progressively improve your weapons and equipment. As the difficulty increases as you progress through the game, skillful use of the upgrading becomes essential. Upgrading the wrong weapon or component could be the difference between putting down a room full of enemies and mashing on the reload button as a claw comes down on your head.




Graphics/Sound (10/10)
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Simply put, the graphics are amazing (some of the best on the 360) and the sound is even better (great voice acting, terrific weapon sounds, terrifying environmental sounds, and heart-attack inducing music). The only knock I have on it is that the great graphics are wasted at times on the dark and somewhat monotonous ambience. This game shows substantial polish (which is an EA hallmark)!




Play Time/Replayability (8/10)
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My first playthrough on normal took about 15 hours. My second playthrough (using the "new game +" feature was about 9 hours). I have not completed my third (and final) playthrough on insane difficulty (I imagine around 15 hours). For a survival horror game, that seems on the average to good end. The only reason to replay the game is to get the achievements (it is impossible on one playthrough, and likely even on two). Not a bad reason, but otherwise nothing in the game changes. However, this is a survival horror game, those are all standard issues. This score is based on the genre, not compared to other games (such as Mass Effect, with substantial play time, or Gears of War 2, with substantial online replayability).




Final Recommendation (9/10)
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Great game. If you like survival horror games, want to try a new twist on an action game, or just like scary movies, I would recommend this game. I'd also recommend checking out the additional content (e.g. movies), which add to the story and overall gameplay. As of September 2009, Dead Space is available for about $20. That's phenomenal value for a game this good.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/24/09

Game Release: Dead Space (US, 10/13/08)